Battlefield 4: DICE Tried Adding Animations to Get in and out of Vehicles, then Scrapped the Idea

In Battlefield 4, and in pretty much every Battlefield game, you just walk up to a vehicle, press a button and you’re inside it, without any kind of animation or transition. Turns out that it could have been different. DICE actually tried to implement animations, but it just didn’t work out, as Multiplayer Producer Aleksander Grøndal told DualShockers.

[pedrof93]

LOL What ?

Halo does this pretty well. Why wouldn't they ?

And they speak of all of their realism.

[Abriael]

Actually they said rather often that realism is not their focus for Battlefield 4. They don't even have a military adviser.

[iamnsuperman]

It is the fans who say that a lot.

I am glad they haven't included it. Okay it is nice to see but I don't think it really adds anything unless you are going for the sim vibe (or it is a cinematic moment. i.e. in the campaign)

[Abriael]

@iamnsuperman: yeah, I really don't see where they come from. I mean, the ARMA series is *somewhat* realistic, but Battlefield? It isn't, and it has never tried to be.

[pedrof93]

Well that's for sure.

But I've read somewhere they speaking of their realist physics and explosions.

I don't think that a half second animation of the character entering a car would make things worst.

[webeblazing]

I could imagine it now slow animation getting in and out cars. sniper on hill free kill galore lol. it would be funny for vids.

[Muffins1223]

Only 13 year old fanboys say it.

[Kleptic]

it has that kind of stuff in single player...

but in multiplayer...They'll do all the work to have smooth transitional animations in and out of vehicles...the community will go completely ballistic as soon as you die while 'stuck' in this animation...or the opposite; players are invulnerable during the animation...and everyone flips out, too...

I don't care either way...I just know its something people would bitch endlessly about until it was removed, anyway...

[Riderz1337]

But then how would you get in a heli in mid air? =P

[NinjaonHiatus]

thank you for being right

[titletownrelo]

they should have included this feature in hardcore mode. I REALLY wanted DICE to stress the "hardcore" in "hardcore mode". Meaning...
-bare minimum for HUD = scoreboard/compass

-realistic reloading mechanic

-realistic damage model (headshot = dead)

-only 1st person view for vehicles

-vehicle enter/exit animations

:P

[Ashunderfire86]

Because they are lazy and never do it in all of their battlefield games. Its just like how Assassin Creed makes enemies automatically die in water instead of swimming,when your character kicks them off. Halo use the get in and out animation since Halo 1 launch on Xbox back in 2001.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Really Dice/EA? You can't do what a 12 year old game can?

[CrossingEden]

Actually enemies no longer automatically die when you push them into water in AC4.

[Wingsfan24]

I like how you call a development team "lazy" when you probably couldn't even figure out how to do a single line of code for a video game. Not saying I can either, but you should choose your choice of words better.

[Pandamobile]

Design decisions != laziness. Battlefield is not Halo. Vehicle entry/exit animations have no place in a multiplayer Battlefield game.

Also, do you have any idea how much work a system like that would take for a AAA game like Battlefield 4? It would probably be 1-2 months of work for a team of 10 people when all is said and done. Designers, programmers, animators and a producer would all have to collaborate to make sure that it 1) actually functions properly and 2) doesn't break the finely tuned fun-factor of BF4.

Get your head straight.

[Ashunderfire86]

Wow wow slow down! Push the breaks, or you might crash! Sorry that I offend thy, but know this Dice should have no problem with putting the in and out animation for the vehicle in Battlefield.

This series has been milk the same way as Call of Duty, but at least Dice give it a break from time to time. What I am trying to say is, every single Battlefield ever played has done the same thing with the vehicles in each sequel. Even Dice themselves said they could of done it, but will look at it in the future. Yeah Halo has shields, but you can still shoot that person boarding the vehicle with one hit from a sniper. It should be 50/50 on the vehicles when boarding. I mean come on... You guys know it can be done.

No I can't do a single line of code for a game, but I am now taking classes in Game Design, so I am not too far off. Battlefield 4 will be a great game no doubt, but I still stand with my opinion due to seeing this game series do the same thing for years, while slightly changing the formula.

Can you guys complain about the many gamers who criticize about the Fish A.I. from Call of Duty? Can you tell them that how challenging it is to do that? Where were your defense when those developers needed it? Maybe I was a bit too extreme on the choice of words I used, but still that is no excuse for a decade old franchise.

[Ashunderfire86]

#Crossing Eden

Can you give me a link stating that enemies no longer die when being push into the water from AC4. That is news to me, because every Assassin creed I played never have the enemy swim.

[tyrant44]

Come on man don't be stupid, DICE didn't put the vehicle animation because it will make most of people frustrated by getting killed while hopping in. And most of all, do you image what time it will take to get in a chooper or a jet in a realistic way? You need a ladder and all that shit... Plus it will make those "Battlefield moments" pretty hard to do.
It's not like hopping in a spacecraft or a buggy witout doors!

More realism is not always more fun, DICE get that verry well.

[Hufandpuf]

It's different in Halo, you get shields that makes it less likely to die while getting in and out of vehicles. In Battlefield you don't get shields, If you acidently trigger the animation, there's no backing out, so if you get shot, it's because you could'nt move away.

People think they know what the want because it sounds like a cool idea, but it's different in practice.

[filipakos]

It would slow down your MP experience.Imagine all those killing heli pilot,jump from building to get in the chopper with parachute and then the animation comes in while you are in the air :P

[LAWSON72]

The only people that say BF is about realism are the fanboys that hate COD.

[BattleTorn]

It's a really cool idea. And from playing Halo, I can say that those type of animations are very cool!

Better luck fitting into the game next Battlefield I guess

[Vladplaya]

I always wanted Battlefield to have animations for that (suggested it on BF3 forums while it was in development too), because it makes people think. You have to make a decision whether its safe to get into a vehicle or not, and go with whatever is best for situation, even if you will get stuck in an animation for like 2 seconds.

But of course with today's mentality of kids, nobody wants to think and make decisions, its all about running and gunning, spraying and praying, so who needs second or two of animations to worry about?

I also like how he says maybe in the future, yeah right, with the way the genre is going, we will be getting rid of reload here pretty soon just so people will not get frustrated with getting killed while reloading...

[Donnywho]

I think it's a lot more fun to be able to board a jet mid air then to watch a guy take 45 minutes to get in a tank.

[Kleptic]

its a slippery slope when you start attacking from the realism front...as i said higher up, i'm not really for or against it, but i do know enough about the bf community that it will just be targeted in thousands of threads...and pretty much no one would end up happy with it...

but yeah...so an animation to get in a tank or jet...is the tank or jet already started? the Abrams has a massive diesel engine, of which you don't just turn a key and drive off like a Civic...an F18?...jet engine's don't just 'start'...

just saying...are animations really that big of a deal? Once they're added, we better start check lists and QTE events to make sure the equipment we just got in is field ready, right?

So overall i completely agree with you...Battlefield already struggles with pacing...i think, what most fans will agree on, is the last thing we need is something slowing aspects of multiplayer down even more...

[johny5]

This not being being included in the Next Generation is not acceptable!

Animations is one of the most important things in a game and can make it from being quite immersive to frankly just boring.

[Neixus]

Battlefield ain't realistic, anyone knows that, realism isn't they're goal anyways.
Frankly, it would be immersion breaking if you're crashing with your heli, and he casually makes his way out of the heli.

[johny5]

true but for a two second animation it could have been done? And no I'm not hating I still like battlefield over call of duty any day!

[Pandamobile]

Battlefield multiplayer is and has always been about the fun, over-the-top warfare experience. Instantaneous vehicle entry and departure is a critical aspect of Battlefield's fun factor.

If you have canned animations for getting in and out of each vehicle, how would you expect the game to react if you try to enter a vehicle from an odd angle (below a helicopter, or into a moving jeep). I could explain to you until the cows come home why it's an awful idea, but I'll spare you the rant.

[johny5]

I wasn't exactly "ranting" but I was stating that all games should try improving there animations and physics instead other graphical enhancements and I guarantee that those improvement will feel much more next gen compared to last!

By the way I don't really care about Extreme realism that much that's why I like the Bad company games more then the actually main games. "Can't wait for Bad Company 3"

[Izzy408]

If the animation doesn't take more than 3 seconds, then i'm all for it.

[JediDiah]

Should have added it....this Next Gen stuff can use all the help it can get.

[SIRHC13]

If Far Cry can do it, given how similar the gunplay looks to Battlefield's, I don't see why not.

[Pandamobile]

Far Cry is not Battlefield. As a BF Vet since 2005, I can assure you that adding and 2-3 second animation for entering and exiting a vehicle in multiplayer would piss me (and lots of others) off to no end.

[SIRHC13]

I'm speaking in technical terms. As in I'm sure DICE could have made a smooth, unbroken animation.

I understand that it would only slow down gameplay, especially multiplayer. But I don't see why not implement it into single player. Teleporting you into your vehicle kind of breaks the immersion, at least for me.

[Pandamobile]

This is multiplayer we're talking about though. It may very well be part of the single player game.

[JasonKCK]

I agree BF is different when playing MP and a 3 second delay could send you back to respawn. Halo is able to pull it off but in Halo everyone has shields.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

What if you get in a tank battle and you about to lose. I would want to get out the tank as fast as possible. If the animation took 1 second then it would be cool to have but it's really not that important.

[Last_Boss]

Good it keeps they flow of the game fast. The Lost Planet series could of benefited from this.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Nothing worse over the last few years than a forced mechanic in a game getting you killed. hence say cod you go to a near wall and auto climb kicks in when you don't want it to.

Boom your dead not nice in an ESL are Clanbase match. One off the worst things ever added to COD imo. Same with mechanics that will take over to get you in and out off a car think off it opening a door sitting down firing up the engine.

Lots off time to die again. Not good for competition play. Only Cod i still play is Cod4 on PC but it has a last effect there.

BF3 and BF4 handle this a lot better by making these moves more free flow and BF4 allows you to shoot while in the move so its not an issue no more.

But adding things like this just slows down game play and takes that edge away from a game that needs some speed imo.

[CuddlyREDRUM]

Unfinished game!

[SITH]

I am in the middle with regards to animations. It is good and bad for me. Because it was very nice sniping people in halo as they transition in and out of a vehicle. An opportunity you could take if you were familiar with the animations. But I do like the immediate action of entering or exiting a vehicle. Makes a big difference between life or death when a threat exists, or a missile is riding your six and you need a few seconds to fly over suitable territory before you eject.

[CaptCalvin]

It works for halo because its vehicles are fictional. Meaning they can make the entry procedure as simple as they like. Mounting on a real life vehicle especially military gets A LOT more complicated. You need a ladder to climb onto a jet for example. Also you gotta pump half a magazine into somebody to get a kill in halo so the rather brief boarding animations really aren't a threat.

[PsylentKiller]

If were going with realistic animations then they have to add a parachute pack to every soldier. The. When you use it once it has to stay on the ground when you cut it loose or you have to roll it back up to reuse it or you have to put on a new pack.

Can't spawn in a vehicle anymore. You could spawn next to it and then have to climb in.

There are hummers, jeeps, motorcycles, tanks, transports, AA guns, stationary rocket launchers, jets, helicopters (I think that's it) in Battlefield. The animations for all these have to be different not only in how it looks but how long it takes to get in. Also, most vehicles can hold more than one person. The animation for the passenger on a motorcycle has to be different than the drivers animation. Same goes for other vehicles. Also the animations have to be different when leaving e vehicle while stopped and while moving.

There is way too much to worry about and way too many things that could go wrong. It was a wise decision to leave those animations out.